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Intercultural Communication Studies XII-4 2003 Asian Approaches to Human Communication presumed to add up to the whole, none can be left out of a diagrammatic representation. Thus modern models of the communication process are not quickly and easily memorized and used. A holistic approach to model design authorizes the designer to cluster groups of unspecified variables in ways that dramatize the point [she or] he wishes to make. This makes it possible to create simple models that say a great deal, because the model is metaphor rather than realistic or literal symbolization. Instead of supplying all the details, the metaphorical model guides the reader into a sequence of [her or] his own thoughts, opinions, and experiences. Nonwestern cultures are, incidentally, much more comfortable with the metaphoric model than with detailed, analytical representations. (p. 28) There are not many attempts to propose metaphoric models of communication from Eastern perspectives. Yoshikawa’s (1980, 1984, 1987) doubleswing model of intercultural communication is one of the few exceptions. Asiacentric communication theorists have thus far adhered to analytical, complex theoretical models partly because of their strategy to make their Eastern modes of communication understandable to the Western audience (e.g., Ishii, 1984; Hara, 2001, 2002; Miike, 2003c). But they can explore the possibility of constructing metaphoric, simple theoretical models that may appeal more to the ethos of Asian peoples. Asian religious-philosophical traditions are full of suggestive metaphorical symbols that can serve as models of communication. Asian linguistic forms such as Chinese characters also can be profitably utilized owing to their ideographic nature. Allowing many theoretical ideas to be presented without rigid methodological regimens may be one Asiacentric step toward more democratic scholarship. Concluding Comments “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible,” Jonathan Swift elegantly opines. 3 Engaging in this art is not easy precisely because things are invisible. The present essay has undertaken such a difficult task of seeing what is possible in Asiacentric communication scholarship. Much thinking remains to be done for a more comprehensive and complete Asiacentric vision. The intellectual mission of the Asiacentric project is to generate theory and research that can resonate thoroughly with Asian experiences and to enrich human ways of being, knowing, and valuing in the universe. This unaccomplished mission parallels the promotion of universal humanity and the preservation of cultural diversity in an age of glocalization. For Asiacentric approaches can delve more deeply into, and reflect more earnestly on, both universal humanity in cultural communication and cultural diversity in human communication. 56
Intercultural Communication Studies XII-4 2003 Asian Approaches to Human Communication Asiacentricity is neither a hegemonic Asiacentrism nor an Asian version of ethnocentric Eurocentrism. Asiacentricity does not present the Asian worldview as the only universal frame of reference and impose it on non-Asians. The Asiacentric metatheory, which demands the placement of Asian ideals and interests at the center of inquiry, simply argues that the best conceptual system of analysis for comprehending or even criticizing the agency of Asians in cultural context is Asiacentric. In so doing, this alternative metatheory does not deny the value of other non-Asiacentric perspectives on Asians but rejects the hegemonic idea that non-Asiacentric theoretical standpoints are superior to Asiacentric ones and therefore can grossly neglect the latter in the discussion and discourse surrounding Asian people and phenomena. At the dawn of the new century, Lee (2001) passionately suggests that Asians create a different kind of music. He observes that Asians “have gained confidence by winning world acclaim for our performance of Western music on Western instruments” (p. 26). Yet Lee (2001) finds it difficult to predict how Asians can “make a major contribution to the 21st century world, with its new cultural paradigm, simply by virtue of our ability to perform Western music better than Westerners” (p. 26). His suggestion is indeed timely. Asians ought to compose Asian music on Asian instruments in the new millennium. This alternative idea of cultural agency is the focal contention of the Asiacentric metatheory. With their firm belief in the East-West cultural equality (Ishii, 1995), Asian communication scholars as well must produce their own melody in the exciting opening of the new concert. With the Gandhian spirit of “I can wait 40 or 400 years” (Starosta & Chaudhary, 1993), let us dream of Asian harmonious music in full flourish. * I owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor Guo-Ming Chen at the University of Rhode Island and Professor William J. Starosta at Howard University who have kindly served as my dialogical mentors. I am also most grateful to Professor Wimal Dissanayake at the University of Hong Kong for having been my source of insight and inspiration. Finally, my thanks go to Professor Karen A. Foss, Professor Bradford ‘J’ Hall, Professor Janet M. Cramer, and Professor Everett M. Rogers at the University of New Mexico and Dr. William Kelly at the University of California, Los Angeles for crystallizing my Asiacentric vision. Notes 1. In accordance with my previous works (Miike, 2002, 2003ab), Asia in the present essay is geographically confined to China, India, Japan, and Korea 57
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